I apologize if this has been asked before, but I’m curious if you can stain veneer before putting it on a work piece?

It’s all flat surfaces, nothing fancy, just a box. Is it possible to apply some stain, let it dry for a while, and then put the veneer on? It’s PSA veneer, so I don’t think the glue bleeding the stain would be an issue. This isn’t something I’ve ever tried before, so I thought I’d ask if anyone else has any experience with it.

I like to do veneer with crazy dyes and I’ve learned it works best if I dye/stain it prior to glue. The handful of times I tried glueing first I ended up with a really inconsistent dye pattern later because it was saturated with glue.

The only thing I’ve learned to do special is just keep an eye on it right when you attach it and wipe out / even away any glue immediately.

It’s PSA veneer, so glue shouldn’t matter. It’s sounding like I should be ok. Thanks everyone for your input. The main reasoning was because the stain would have a red tint to it, and I don’t want to get any on the curly maple that will be acting as the ‘front’ of the box.